Pay at the Table System

ABSTRACT

Patrons at a restaurant or bar can pay at their table using credit cards, without involving the restaurant or bar cashier and/or wait staff. Patrons are assisted using this system in dividing the bill by displaying the amount due (including tax) and allowing each patron to enter the amount they wish to pay. When the initial bill is presented, a balance due will be displayed and the indication will be provided that the bill has yet to be paid in full. As each transaction is entered, a running total will be displayed indicating the remaining balance due. When the running total reaches zero, the bill is paid in full, and an indication will be provided, such as by illuminating a green indicator light or by displaying a balance due of $0.00.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates in general to information processingsystems, and in particular, to a point-of-sale terminal permittingrestaurant patrons to individually pay their portion of the restaurantbill.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Many times has the following scenario been encountered. A group ofpatrons dining at a restaurant receive the bill, and then go through thecomplicated task of determining how much each patron owes on the billincluding applicable tax and an allotted portion of the gratuity to bepaid to the wait staff. Moreover, many restaurants and bars do notaccept separate payments for items on a single bill mostly becausesplitting a bill often results in errors and in taking time away fromthe wait staff being able to serve other customers within therestaurant.

Thus, there is a need to address these competing interests, whereby thepatrons are able to split a bill without such a process unduly burdeningthe wait staff, and adversely impacting the restaurant's efficiency.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,812 to Meyer, et al provides a portable transactionterminal system which provides for complete data entry at the guesttable of an eating and drinking establishment. The terminal has thefacility for entering all the information needed to complete thetransaction, including the server's gratuity. This portable transactionterminal system is nothing more than the credit card payment devicesfound at almost every commercial establishment, such as grocery stores,permitting a total bill to be paid using a patron's credit card. Meyer,et al. provides an additional functionality in permitting the patron topay a gratuity in addition to the total bill. What Meyer, et al. doesnot disclose is an ability for the bill to be split among the variouspatrons at a table and for each of such patrons to individually paytheir desired portion using a credit card.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing need is addressed by the present invention which allowsdiners in a restaurant to pay at the table using credit cards, withoutinvolving the restaurant cashier and/or the wait staff. The presentinvention will assist patrons in dividing the bill by displaying theamount due (including tax) and allowing each patron to enter the amountwhich he or she wishes to pay. When the initial bill is presented, abalance due will be displayed and a red indicator light may beilluminated, indicating that the bill is not yet paid in full. As eachtransaction is entered, a running total will be displayed indicating theremaining balance due. When the running total reaches zero, the bill ispaid in full (including the tax, but not necessarily an optionalgratuity). The present invention may indicate that the bill has beenpaid in full by illuminating a green indicator light and by displaying abalance due of $0.00.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood.Additional features and advantages of the invention will be describedhereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network implementing the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a point-of-sale terminal for allowing patrons to paytheir portion of the bill using a credit;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a data processing systemconfigurable in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of one embodiment of the presentinvention,

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an alternative embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative point-of-sale terminal for permittingpatrons to pay their portion of the bill using a credit card at atouch-sensitive display screen; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of another alternative embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forthsuch as specific point of sale terminal configurations, etc. to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beobvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without such specific details. In other instances, well-knowncircuits have been shown in block diagram form in order not to obscurethe present invention in unnecessary detail. For the most part, detailsconcerning timing considerations and the like have been omitted in asmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a completeunderstanding of the present invention and are within the skills ofpersons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

Refer now to the drawings wherein depicted elements are not necessarilyshown to scale and wherein like or similar elements are designated bythe same reference numeral through the several views.

The following exemplified scenario is addressed to the use of thepresent invention. A group of patrons are dining at a restaurant, whereeach of the patrons orders various items, which are placed on a singlebill by the wait staff. The total bill is then presented to the table ofpatrons, who decide that they wish to split the bill and pay on aseparate basis. The present invention has the advantage of permittingthis process of paying separately without unduly burdening therestaurant wait staff.

Note, though the present invention is described with respect to arestaurant, it is applicable to any situation where a plurality ofpatrons wish to pay separate portions of a bill.

Referring to FIG. 1, in today's typical restaurant environment, the oldfashioned cash register has been replaced by a computer server 101,which is coupled to a waiter's or cashier's terminal 102 where ordersfrom various patrons at tables are entered into the system on a pertable basis. The server 101 keeps track of such orders, and may providevarious other functionalities not pertinent to the present invention,such as being linked to a software accounting system. As a waiterreceives orders for items of food and beverages from patrons at aparticular table, the waiter will input such items at the waiter'sterminal 102, which then keeps track of a running total bill for eachtable within the restaurant establishment. For example, once the patronsat a particular table have completed their main course, the waiter willask the patrons if they wish to now order desert and/or coffee. If anyorders of desert and/or coffee are made by any of the patrons, thewaiter will enter such orders at the waiter's terminal 102, and suchitems will be added to the total bill for that table.

The typical method for presenting the total bill for patrons at a tableis for the waiter to print out the total bill at the waiter's terminal102 and present the paper invoice to the patrons at the table. Thereason there is typically a single bill presented to the patrons is thatmost restaurants do not permit separate checks to be issued to thevarious patrons at a table since this not only complicates an alreadycomplicated job for the waiter, but can also result in more errors beingmade by the waiter in keeping track of each of the patron's individualorders, and slows down each waiter's efficiency in being able to providepersonal service to each of their respective tables. Theseinefficiencies can further result in human errors being made by the waitstaff in bringing incorrect meal orders to the patrons at their tables,and can also slow down the throughput of patrons through the restaurantwhere it takes longer for a table of patrons to be served and thepayment transaction to be completed so that the table can be cleared forthe next group of patrons.

Though U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,812 to Meyer, et al. discussed previouslyprovides for an entire table of patrons to pay the total bill using acredit card, including the gratuity, it does not provide an ability forthe check to be split among the various patrons, and for thoseindividual patrons to then pay their desired portion of the bill. Thisdeficiency is addressed by the present invention.

Again referring to FIG. 1, the present invention provides a table unit103, which is either brought by the waiter to the table with thepresentation of the total bill, or is permanently resident at the table.Nevertheless, the table unit 103 is in communication with the waiter'sterminal 102 and the server 101 so that the total bill can be displayedto the patrons at the table and for permitting the patrons toindividually pay what they desire their portion of the bill to be.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated one example of such a tableunit 103, which includes a credit card reader 201 through which a creditcard (not shown) can be slid through for reading the account informationon the magnetic strip of the credit card, in a manner that is well knownin the art. Table unit 103 also includes a display 202, which willdisplay information pertaining to the food bill for the table ofpatrons, in a manner as further described below. Also illustrated inFIG. 2 are green light 203, red light 204, and yellow light 205, whichare also further discussed below.

As discussed previously, a waiter serving a particular table of patronswill enter in each item ordered by the patrons at the table at thewaiter's terminal 102. The system illustrated in FIG. 1 will keep trackof the itemized list of items ordered by the table of patrons, includinga running subtotal indicating the total amount owed by the table ofpatrons for the items they ordered. Referring to FIG. 4, step 401 showsthat on a per table basis, such a subtotal amount of items purchased ismaintained at the waiter's terminal 102. When the waiter for the tableof patrons has determined that the patrons are no longer going to orderany further items, then the waiter can provide some type of input at thewaiter's terminal 102 that the final order has been entered (step 402).In step 403, the system will compute the total bill for the table ofpatrons, compute any applicable tax to be charged along with the totalbill, and can optionally compute suggested gratuities to be paid by thepatrons at the table for various suggested percentages. For example,gratuities can be calculated based on a 15% factor, a 20% factor, etc.In step 404, the computed totals are then transmitted from the waiter'sterminal 102 to the table unit 103 for display to the patrons on display202 on unit 103. As an example, a total food bill of $123.45, along withthe applicable tax for the bill of $9.88 with a resulting subtotal of$133.33 may be displayed on display 202. Furthermore, the suggestedgratuities of 15% ($18.52) and 20% ($24.69) may also be displayed ondisplay 202.

Next, in step 405, an indication can be provided to either the waiter atwaiter's terminal 102 or the patrons at table unit 103 that the bill hasyet to be paid in full by the patrons. One example of such an indicationwould be the illumination of an LED light 204 on unit 103. Anotherindication might be merely some wording displayed on display 202 statingthat the bill has yet to be paid in full. This indication also providesthe same type of information to the wait staff as to whether the patronshave completed the payment transaction. Next, in step 406, a request ismade to the patrons to add their desired gratuity submission to thesubtotal of the bill plus the tax. Such a request can be performed inthe manner of a message displayed on display 202. The patrons can thenenter in any amount of gratuity they wish, including selecting one ofthe suggested gratuity amounts. The entry of such an amount can beperformed using numerical key pad 206. Alternatively, display screen 202may be a touch-sensitive screen, which are well known in the art. Theresult is that a grand total of food, tax, and gratuity will then bedisplayed for payment by the patrons. In step 407, the system determineswhether the gratuity has been added. If not, the process merely returnsto step 406. However, if the gratuity has been then added by thepatrons, the process proceeds to step 408 to determine whether one ofthe patrons has entered a credit card number. This can be performed by apatron swiping their credit card (not shown) through credit card reader201, or an option can be implemented whereby the credit card number of apatron is entered using the input keypad 206. The system will merelyloop upon itself if a credit card number has yet to be entered. Note,while the system merely loops upon itself waiting for a patron to entera credit card number or to swipe their credit card through credit cardreader 201, the indication provided in step 405 visually remains. Forexample, the red light 204 will remain illuminated. In step 409, if apatron has swiped their credit card through credit card reader 201, thesystem, in step 409, will request the holder of that credit card toenter an amount they wish to pay using that credit card number. Such arequest can be displayed to the patron using display 202. The patronassociated with that credit card number can then enter in an amount theyare paying on that credit card using the input keypad 206. In step 410,the system will deduct the amount entered by the patron from the grandtotal bill, and determine if the amount entered by the patron results ina payment of the entire bill or merely a portion thereof. If the amountentered by the patron associated with the credit card swiped throughcredit card reader 201 is less than the total bill, then in step 413,the remaining balance still owed by the table of patrons will bedisplayed on display 202. The system will then wait for another creditcard number to be entered in step 408. Theoretically, such a credit cardnumber can be the same credit card number as entered previously wherethe same patron decides that they are going to pay the next portion ofthe balance. However, what the first portion of the invention isdesigned for is to enable another one of the patrons within the group atthe table to then enter in their own credit card by swiping it throughcredit card reader 201 and then enter in an amount they wish to pay onthe remaining balance in step 409. Again, in step 410, this new amountentered by the subsequent patron is then subtracted from the remainingbalance to determine if the total bill has now been paid at the table.If a balance still remains, the process continues through steps 413,408, 409 and 410 and so on until the total bill is paid of the food,tax, and selected gratuity. Once the total bill is computed to have beenpaid by the group of patrons at the table, in step 411, an indicationwill be provided that the bill has now been paid in full. This may beshown by the discontinuance of the illumination of the red lamp 204, andthe illumination of a green lamp 203 on the unit 103. Furthermore, someother type of indication may be provided at the waiter's terminal 102 toindicate that the patrons have now paid the bill in full. Thereafter, instep 412, the payment information entered by each of the patrons withrespect to their credit card numbers and accounts, will then betransmitted by the establishment from server 101 over a network to thevarious financial institutions associated with the credit card accountsof the patrons.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is illustrated an alternative embodiment ofthe present invention, which can be used to replace steps 405-413 inFIG. 4. Essentially, these steps may be implemented to permit each ofthe patrons to pay a portion of the total food bill plus tax, but notthe gratuity. From step 404, the process will proceed to step 501 toprovide an indication that the bill has yet to be paid in full. Thisstep may be performed in a manner similarly as discussed above withrespect to step 405. Thereafter, steps 502-505 can be implemented in amanner as similarly described above with respect to steps 408-410 and413 whereby each of the patrons at the table pays their desired portionof the food bill plus tax portion. Once that total portion has been paidin full the process will then proceed to step 506 to indicate that thetotal bill has been paid, but that a gratuity has yet to be added. Thisindication can be implemented using a displayed message or byilluminating a yellow lamp 205 on unit 103. Thereafter, the patrons canthen decide what amount of gratuity they wish to pay to the wait staff,which can be performed using cash collected from each of the patrons tobe deposited on the table, or by repeating the process described abovewith respect to steps 502-505 for a gratuity amount to be selected andagreed upon by the patrons.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is illustrated an alternative embodiment ofthe present invention whereby a table unit 601 is implemented with atouch-sensitive display screen 603, and a credit card reader 602. Thecredit card reader 602 functions in a manner as similarly describedabove with respect to the credit card reader 201 in unit 103. However,the display 202 and the key input pad 206 are replaced by thetouch-sensitive display screen 603. The touch-sensitive screen 603operates in a manner well known in the art whereby a user can touchvarious items displayed on the screen for selection of those items. Whattable unit 601 enables the system to do is to list every item ordered bythe table of patrons on touch-sensitive display screen 603, whereby eachof the patrons can then select the items they wish to pay for, and entera gratuity they wish to pay for on each of their individual creditcards.

Referring to FIG. 7, in step 701, on a per table basis, a subtotalamount is calculated for the items ordered and purchased by a table ofpatrons. Steps 702 and 703 are then performed in a manner as similarlydescribed above with respect to steps 402 and 403. Thereafter, in step704, the list of items ordered by the patrons at the table and theirrespective costs are then displayed on touch-sensitive display 603.Additionally, the subtotal for the food items will be displayed alongwith any applicable tax, resulting in a total displayed for the food andtax. Additionally, suggested gratuity amounts may also be displayed. Anexample of such a display of information is illustrated in FIG. 6.Thereafter, in step 705, an indication will be provided that the billhas yet to be paid in full. FIG. 6 does not illustrate the red, greenand yellow lamps as shown in FIG. 2, but these can be implemented onunit 601 as well. In step 706, the system loops until a credit cardnumber has been entered by a patron, either using the touch-sensitivescreen 603 to enter in digits on a displayed virtual numeric keypad (notshown), or by swiping a credit card through credit card reader 602. Oncea patron has entered a credit card number, the process proceeds to step707 where a request is made of the credit card holder to select itemsthe credit card holder wishes to pay for. Such a request can be madeusing a message displayed on display 603. The credit card holder willthen select items they wish to pay for using the touch-sensitive screen,in a manner well known in the art. For example, referring to theexemplary list of items shown in FIG. 6, this credit card holder couldselect to pay for the #1 Plate and for the Coffee by touching thoseitems on the touch-sensitive screen 603. In step 708, as each item isselected by the credit card holder, a subtotal of such items ismaintained, and will be displayed to the credit card holder in responseto some type of action, such as pressing a virtual ENTER button ondisplay 603. Along with the subtotal of items selected by the creditcard holder, the system will also compute and display the tax associatedwith such items, and may also compute suggested gratuity amounts for thecredit card holder. For example, for the subtotal of items and taxselected by the first credit card holder, suggested 15% and 20% gratuityamounts can also be displayed for selection by the credit card holder.In step 709, the holder of the credit card will then be requested toconfirm their computed subtotal plus tax, and to select one of thesuggested gratuity amounts, or to enter a different gratuity amountusing the virtual numeric key pad, which can also be displayed. In step710, the grand total for that particular credit card holder will then becomputed and displayed, and in step 711, that amount will be subtractedfrom the total amount of the bill to determine if the total amount ofthe bill has now been paid. If not, in step 714, the remaining balancewill be displayed and the process will return to step 706 to repeatsteps 706-711 until the entire total bill for the food and tax have beenpaid by the patrons responsible for this bill. Once the total bill hasbeen paid, the process will proceed from step 711 to step 712 toindicate that the bill has been paid in full, and the paymentinformation for the various credit card holders who entered theirinformation will be transmitted to the respective financial institutionsin step 713.

The various units illustrated in FIG. 1 can each be implemented using atypical data processing system, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring first to FIG. 3, an example is shown of a data processingsystem 300 which may be used for the invention. The system has a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 310, which is coupled to various other componentsby system bus 312. Read only memory (“ROM”) 316 is coupled to the systembus 312 and includes a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) that controlscertain basic functions of the data processing system 300. Random accessmemory (“RAM”) 314, I/O adapter 318, and communications adapter 334 arealso coupled to the system bus 312. I/O adapter 318 may be a smallcomputer system interface (“SCSI”) adapter that communicates with a diskstorage device 320. Communications adapter 334 interconnects bus 312with an outside network enabling the data processing system tocommunicate with other such systems. Input/Output devices are alsoconnected to system bus 312 via user interface adapter 322 and displayadapter 336. Keyboard 324 and mouse 326 are all interconnected to bus312 via user interface adapter 322. Display monitor 338 is connected tosystem bus 312 by display adapter 336. In this manner, a user is capableof inputting to the system throughout the keyboard 324 or mouse 326 andreceiving output from the system display 338.

Preferred implementations of the invention include implementations as acomputer system programmed to execute the method or methods describedherein, and as a computer program product. According to the computersystem implementation, sets of instructions for executing the method ormethods are resident in the random access memory 314 of one or morecomputer systems configured generally as described above. Until requiredby the computer system, the set of instructions may be stored as acomputer program product in another computer memory, for example, indisk drive 320 (which may include a removable memory such as an opticaldisk or floppy disk for eventual use in the disk drive 320). Further,the computer program product can also be stored at another computer andtransmitted when desired to the user's work station by a network or byan external network such as the Internet. One skilled in the art wouldappreciate that the physical storage of the sets of instructionsphysically changes the medium upon which it is stored so that the mediumcarries computer readable information. The change may be electrical,magnetic, chemical, biological or some other physical change. While itis convenient to describe the invention in terms of instructions,symbols, characters, or the like, the reader should remember that all ofthese and similar terms should be associated with the appropriatephysical elements.

Note that the invention may describe terms such as comparing, validatingselecting, identifying, or other terms that could be associated with ahuman operator. However, for at least a number of the operationsdescribed herein which form part of at least one of the embodiments, noaction by a human operator is desirable. The operations described are,in large part, machine operations processing electrical signals togenerate other electrical signals.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described indetail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A method for payment of a bill, comprising the steps of: a)calculating a total bill for a plurality of patrons; b) displaying thetotal bill to the plurality of patrons; c) receiving input informationfrom a first one of the plurality of patrons to pay a first portion ofthe total bill using a first credit card account; d) automaticallycalculating, in response to the receiving step, a balance owed equal tothe total bill minus the first portion; e) automatically displaying, inresponse to the automatically calculating step, the balance owed to theplurality of patrons; and f) repeating steps c) through e) until thebalance owed equals zero.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, whereinthe total bill represents a total amount of money owed by the pluralityof patrons for items purchased by the plurality of patrons.
 3. Themethod as recited in claim 2, wherein step f) further comprises thesteps of: g) receiving input information from a second one of theplurality of patrons to pay a second portion of the total bill using asecond credit card account; h) automatically calculating, in response tostep g), a balance owed equal to the total bill minus the first andsecond portions; i) automatically displaying, in response to step h),the balance owed calculated in step h) to the plurality of patrons; andf) if the balanced owed calculated in step i) does not equal to zero,repeating steps g) through i) until the balance owed equals zero.
 4. Themethod as recited in claim 3, wherein step c) comprises the steps of:receiving credit card account information associated with the firstcredit card account; and receiving the first portion inputted by thefirst one of the plurality of patrons, and wherein step g) comprises thesteps of: receiving credit card account information associated with thesecond credit card account; and receiving the second portion inputted bythe second one of the plurality of patrons.
 5. The method as recited inclaim 4, wherein the receipt of credit card information furthercomprises the step of reading a magnetic strip on the credit card whenit is swiped through a credit card reader.
 6. The method as recited inclaim 4, further comprising the step of: transmitting the inputinformation received in steps c) and g) to one or more financialinstitutions.
 7. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprisingthe steps of: requesting the first one of the plurality of patrons toinclude a first gratuity amount with the first input information,wherein the first portion includes the first gratuity amount; andrequesting the second one of the plurality of patrons to include asecond gratuity amount with the second input information, wherein thesecond portion includes the second gratuity amount.
 8. The method asrecited in claim 7, further comprising the step of: requesting theplurality of patrons add an amount of gratuity to be added to the totalbill before step c) is performed.
 9. The method as recited in claim 8,wherein the first and second gratuity amounts equal to the amount ofgratuity added to the total bill.
 10. The method as recited in claim 4,wherein the total bill includes a gratuity selected by the plurality ofpatrons.
 11. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising thestep of: visually indicating to the plurality of patrons that the totalbill has not yet been paid when the balanced owed is greater than zero.12. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising the step of:visually indicating to the plurality of patrons that the total bill hasbeen paid when the balanced owed is equal to zero.
 13. The method asrecited in claim 8, wherein the step of requesting further comprises thestep of displaying to the plurality of patrons one or more suggestedgratuity amounts.
 14. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein step c)further comprises the step of: receiving an input from the first one ofthe plurality of patrons of which of the items on the total bill to beincluded in the first portion.
 15. In a restaurant, a method comprisingthe steps of: seating a plurality of patrons at a table; taking ordersof food items from the plurality of patrons at the table; computing atotal amount owed by the plurality of patrons for the ordered fooditems; displaying the total amount on a payment unit at the table;receiving and storing first credit card information from a first creditcard swiped through a credit card reader by a first one of the pluralityof patrons, wherein the credit card reader is part of the payment unitat the table; receiving and storing a first portion entered by the firstone of the plurality of patrons into the payment unit, wherein the firstportion represents an amount of money to be paid by the first one of theplurality of patrons by a debit to an account of the first credit card;automatically calculating, by the payment unit, a balanced owed on thetotal amount, wherein the balanced owed equals the total amount minusthe first portion; automatically determining, by the payment unit, ifthe balanced owed equals zero; automatically displaying the balancedowed by the payment unit; if the balanced owed is greater than zero,receiving and storing second credit card information from a secondcredit card swiped through the credit card reader by a second one of theplurality of patrons; receiving and storing a second portion entered bythe second one of the plurality of patrons into the payment unit,wherein the second portion represents an amount of money to be paid bythe second one of the plurality of patrons by a debit to an account ofthe second credit card; automatically calculating, by the payment unit,a balanced owed on the total amount, wherein the balanced owed equalsthe total amount minus the first and second portions; automaticallydetermining, by the payment unit, if the balanced owed equals zero; andautomatically displaying the balanced owed by the payment unit.
 16. Themethod as recited in claim 15, further comprising the step of: if thebalanced owed is equal to zero, transmitting the credit card informationand payment information received by the payment unit for processing. 17.The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the step of computing thetotal amount includes the step of computing an applicable tax amount tobe added as part of the total amount owed by the plurality of patrons.18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the applicable tax amountis also displayed on the payment unit.
 19. The method as recited inclaim 15, further comprising the step of: illuminating a light of afirst color on the payment unit indicating that the balance owed is notequal to zero.
 20. The method as recited in claim 19, further comprisingthe step of: illuminating a light of a second color on the payment unitindicating that the balance owed is equal to zero.
 21. The method asrecited in claim 15, further comprising the steps of: computing asuggested gratuity to be paid by the plurality of patrons; anddisplaying the suggested gratuity on the payment unit.
 22. The method asrecited in claim 21, wherein the suggested gratuity is computed as afunction of a percentage of the total amount, and further comprising thestep of displaying the percentage with the displayed suggested gratuity.23. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising the steps of:displaying a request on the payment unit for the plurality of patrons toadd a gratuity to the total amount.
 24. The method as recited in claim23, further comprising the step of: receiving an input from one of theplurality of patrons to add the gratuity to the total amount.
 25. Themethod as recited in claim 24, wherein the first and second portions andthe input are received through a numeric keypad on the payment unit. 26.The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the step of displaying thetotal amount on the payment unit at the table includes the step ofdisplaying a list of the food items and their respective costs.
 27. Themethod as recited in claim 26, wherein the list of food items and thetotal amount are displayed on a touch-sensitive screen on the paymentunit.
 28. The method as recited in claim 27, wherein the step ofreceiving and storing the first portion entered by the first one of theplurality of patrons into the payment unit is performed by recognizingone or more touches by the first one of the plurality of patrons of aselected one or more of the food items displayed on the touch-sensitivescreen. 29-65. (canceled)